2023 -- S 0179

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LC000965

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION – RIGHTS OF PARENTS AND GUARDIANS IN PUBLIC

EDUCATIONAL INSTRUCTION ACT

     Introduced By: Senators de la Cruz, Rogers, DeLuca, and E Morgan

     Date Introduced: February 16, 2023

     Referred To: Senate Education

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. TITLE 16 of the General Laws entitled "EDUCATION" is hereby amended

by adding thereto the following chapter:

CHAPTER 112

RIGHTS OF PARENTS AND GUARDIANS IN PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL INSTRUCTION

ACT

     16-112-1. Short title.

     This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Rights of Parents and Guardians in

Public Educational Instruction Act."

     16-112-2. Legislative purpose.

     It is the purpose of this chapter to enable parents and guardians to have a voice in the

materials taught to their kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) children.

     16-112-3. Definitions.

     As used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings

unless the context shall clearly indicate another or different meaning or intent:

     (1) "Lesson plan" means the daily, weekly, or other routinely produced guide, description

or outline of the instruction to be provided by a teacher to students at school.

     (2) "Objects to any learning material or activity on the basis that the material or activity is

harmful" means objecting to the material or activity because of sexual content, violent content or

profane or vulgar language.

     (3) "Procedures or processes" means procedures or processes that may vary by subject,

area or grade.

     (4) "Public educational institution" means any of the following:

     (i) A school district, including its schools; or

     (ii) A charter school.

     (5) "Used for student instruction":

     (i) Means assigned, distributed or otherwise presented to students in any course for which

students receive academic credit or in any educational capacity in which the school requires the

student body to participate or in which a majority of students, in a given grade level, participate;

and

     (ii) Includes learning materials or activities from which students are required to choose one

or more from a selection of materials that is restricted to specific titles.

     16-112-4. Publication and posting by municipality.

     (a) Every municipality shall publish or prominently place on the municipal website, at least

annually, a directory summarizing the subject matter of all currently applicable ordinances, codes

and substantive policy statements. The municipality shall keep copies of the directory and all

substantive policy statements at one location. The directory, ordinances, codes and substantive

policy statements and any materials incorporated by reference in the documents shall be open to

public inspection at the office of the municipality or posted on the municipal website.

     (b) The municipality may post on its website links to the website of each school that posts

materials pursuant to this chapter and that is located within the municipality.

     16-112-5. Parents' and guardians' rights in educational materials.

     (a) A parent or guardian of a student in a public educational institution has the right to

review learning materials and activities in advance. A parent or guardian who objects to any

learning material or activity on the basis that the material or activity is harmful may request to

withdraw his or her student from the activity or from the class or program in which the material is

used and request an alternative assignment.

     (b) To ensure a parent's or guardian’s right to review learning materials and activities as

described in subsection (a) of this section, beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, each school

committee or school district governing board and charter school governing body shall ensure that

each school under its authority prominently discloses on a publicly accessible portion of its website

all of the following:

     (1) The procedures or processes in effect at the school for a parent or guardian to access in

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advance to review the current learning materials and activities used for student instruction at the

school;

     (2) The procedures or processes in effect for the school principal or other staff to document,

review or approve lesson plans or the learning materials and activities used for student instruction

or teacher training at the school and any change in those procedures or processes from the prior

year;

     (3) A listing of the learning materials and activities used for instruction at the school in the

current year, including the following, organized, at a minimum, by subject area and grade:

     (i) Textbooks, articles and other required reading materials;

     (ii) Videos and audio recordings;

     (iii) Digital materials;

     (iv) Websites;

     (v) Online applications for a phone, laptop or tablet;

     (vi) Instructional handouts and worksheets;

     (vii) Grade level or school wide assemblies;

     (viii) Guest lecturers;

     (ix) Action-oriented civics learning assignments or projects, including the contacting of

elected officials, advocating for or commenting on a political or social issue or participating in

political or social demonstrations;

     (x) Service-learning, internships or other forms of collaboration with outside organizations

after regular school hours for course credit or as a class project or assignment; and

     (xi) Other educational events facilitated by the school's staff, including those events

conducted by outside individuals or organizations;

     (4) A listing of the teacher training materials and activities used at the school in the current

year;

     (5) A listing of available resources in the school library at each school that maintains a

catalog or documented inventory of those resources; and

     (6) A copy of each survey or the full text of any question included on a survey administered

at the school that solicits personal information about a student, and that requires the authorization

of the school district or charter school.

     (c) The information required by this section shall be displayed online at least seven (7)

days before the start of each school year, if available, or, at the latest, three (3) calendar days before

the first use of each training or learning material or activity, survey or library resource in the current

year. Information posted pursuant to this section may be posted on an ongoing basis; provided that,

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parents or guardians are notified of additions made during the school year at least three (3) calendar

days before the first use of the material or activity. The listing of materials shall remain accessible

via the school website until at least the conclusion of the following school year.

     (d) In preparing the listing of learning materials and activities, the school:

     (1) Shall list the information necessary to identify the specific learning materials and

activities used for student instruction, including at least the title and the author, organization or

Internet address associated with each learning material and activity. A short description of the

learning material or activity may be included as necessary. This section does not require:

     (i) The digital reproduction of the learning materials or activities;

     (ii) The disclosure of academic assessments; or

     (iii) The separate reporting of individual components of learning materials that are

produced as a single volume, except that for digital volumes containing works by multiple authors,

the school shall provide either a table of contents or Internet address that discloses the discrete

works and authors contained within the volume. Articles, videos or other materials from websites

shall be identified, if possible, with an Internet address specific to the relevant content used for

student instruction;

     (2) May use collaborative online document or spreadsheet software that allows multiple

authorized users to update or make additions to posted content on an ongoing basis; provided that,

the information is publicly accessible via a posted link on the school website; and

     (3) May satisfy the requirements of this section by posting a copy or the full text of the

lesson plans submitted to the school principal or other staff by instructors at the school in the current

year; provided that, any learning materials and activities not recorded on the lesson plans are also

listed via a publicly accessible portion of the school website.

     16-112-6. Waiver.

     (a) A charter school may require parents or guardians to waive the right to object to learning

materials or activities pursuant to this chapter as a condition of enrollment if the charter school

provides a complete list of books and materials to be used each school year before the student

enrolls. If the charter school introduces books or materials that were not disclosed prior to

enrollment, the parent or guardian retains the right to object to those materials pursuant to this

chapter.

     (b) A charter school may require that any request to review learning materials or activities

or to withdraw the student from learning materials or activities pursuant to this chapter be made in

writing.

     (c) A public educational institution shall obtain signed, written consent from a student's

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parent or guardian before doing either of the following:

     (1) Using video, audio or electronic materials that may be inappropriate for the age of the

student; or

     (2) Providing sex education instruction to the student. At the same time the public

educational institution seeks consent, it shall inform the student's parent or guardian of his or her

right to review the learning materials and activities.

     (d) This section does not require a school to post or distribute a training or learning material

or activity in a manner that would constitute an infringement of copyright under the copyright act

(P. L. 94-553; 90 stat. 2541 to 2598; 17 USC §§ 101 to 1332).

     16-112-7. Remedies.

     (a) The parent or guardian may not initiate legal action to enforce this chapter unless the

party adheres to the following process:

     (1) The party shall submit a complaint in writing with the specific facts of the alleged

violation to the principal of the school. The principal shall investigate the complaint and respond

in writing, including a description of any action taken to resolve the complaint, within fifteen (15)

days after receiving the written complaint.

     (2) If the action taken by the principal of the school does not resolve the complaint, the

party shall submit a complaint in writing with the specific facts of the alleged violation to the school

district governing board or charter school governing body or the administrator designated by the

governing board or governing body. The school district governing board, charter school governing

body or designated administrator shall investigate the complaint and respond in writing, including

a description of any action taken to resolve the complaint, within twenty-five (25) days after

receiving the written complaint.

     (3) If the action taken by the school district governing board, charter school governing

body or designated administrator does not resolve the complaint, the party may pursue legal action

to enforce this chapter.

     (4) If a complaint is not resolved after pursing resolution pursuant to this section, the parent

or guardian may initiate a suit in superior court to bring action for injunctive relief to compel the

school district or charter school to bring the school into compliance with this chapter.

     16-112-8. Liberal Construction.

     This chapter, being necessary for the welfare of the state and its inhabitants, shall be

liberally construed in order to effectuate its purposes.

     16-112-9. Severability.

     If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part of this chapter shall be adjudged by any

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court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, that judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate

the remainder of the chapter but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph,

section, or part directly involved in the controversy in which that judgment shall have been

rendered.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION – RIGHTS OF PARENTS AND GUARDIANS IN PUBLIC

EDUCATIONAL INSTRUCTION ACT

***

     This act would enable parents and guardians to review public school learning materials in

advance and object if they decide that the material is harmful. The act would provide that a parent

or guardian may then withdraw his or her student from the activity or class, where the material is

used and request an alternative assignment. The act would also require, that in order to ensure the

parent’s or guardian's rights, every school committee or charter school governing body must

disclose on their website a list of the learning materials and activities used for instruction organized

by subject area and grade level.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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